chronicles of a dangerously wretched day :: chapter 2
8" x 10" mixed media

i am not sure how i feel about doing this. if you have read me for a while, you know my struggles with ... painting. sure, i can make an awesome image, or a curious collage, all kinds of silly cut-uppery. but painting ... help! although i long desperately to do it. i don't know why. i don't want to paint *things* - puppies, people, flowers, landscapes, etc. i don't even want to paint crusty old houses, the ones i love so much. i just want to make color and marks and texture.

occasionally i take it upon myself to give it a good wrestle.

so for the last week, while i have been having an irritating relapse of whatever bug bit me a couple of weeks ago, i have starting "playing" (ie - tormenting myself) with paints. most of my output was put into the garbage earlier this week. but a few i kept working on. like this one - one of a triptych with small epilogue. i'm not sure it is finished. since i last worked on it, i have discovered new textures and processes, so i might do more. so maybe this is still in progress.

i don't think i have ever shown a painting in progress in my public journal. maybe not even a painting at all? so this is a big deal to me. (if it lasts here later than midnight. ha.)

i can't bear to work on straight white canvas, so i put old paper down first. in retrospect, i wish the paper were not so even and balanced, but more ragged. i think the background is way too muddy, not the delicate layers i wished for. i love the glops though. since i am so intimidated by the brush and the paint, i started making monoprints, layering those. and they are BIG FUN. i LOVE randomness - and this is the ultimate in random surprise. the gold glitter looks odd on scan, but sweet in reality. i am not sure if i will finish with a gloss varnish or beeswax. i am not sure if there need to be more marks. i am quite fond of pencil marks. hmmm...

anyway, critique, questions, suggestions. all welcome.
gulp.